Memory and Media in the Crisis around Ukraine

On March 21, 2016, the University of Amsterdam will
host Memory and Media in the Crisis around Ukraine - a workshop on the Ukraine crisis, where a group of experts from the
Netherlands and abroad will discuss the role of media and memory in the
current events.

From the frozen streets of Kyiv to the heated heights of
Savur-mohila, media and memory shaped the way in which the Ukrainian
crisis of 2013-2015 was perceived and understood both inside and outside
Ukraine. As protests against the corrupt government in Kyiv turned to
nation-wide public unrest, and then to a full-fledged military conflict
in Eastern Ukraine, “old” and “new” media outlets alike were
instrumentalised as means of information warfare. The mediatisation of
the crisis resurfaced old ghosts, which for years haunted Ukrainian
cultural memories; and it evoked new spectres, which arose from the
brisk memorialisation of increasingly violent conflict in Ukraine.

‘Memory and Media in the Crisis around Ukraine’ is a 1-day
interdisciplinary workshop whose participants explore how the Ukrainian
crisis is portrayed, interpreted, and ignited through the use of
technology and memory. How did Western, Russian, and Ukrainian
offline/online media frame different episodes of the Ukrainian crisis?
To what extent are memories of previous revolutions (e.g. the revolution
of 1991 and the Orange revolution) and conflicts (e.g. the Second World
War and the Afghan War) used in framing the crisis? What commemorative
and/or media practices arise offline and online in relation to the
crisis? And how do today's increased opportunities for conflict
mediatisation/memorialisation affect the development of the Ukrainian
crisis both in the short and the long run?